“Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.”
King James Version (KJV)
Jacob's comment on 2014-05-06 15:08:02:
Like ancient Latin, the Hebrew language uses the letters of the alphabet for numbers. The difference between eight and eighteen is the presence of a "hook " symbol over the letters for eighteen, and if the person who copied the manuscript failed to add the "hook, " the error would be recorded and repeated. These occasional scribal errors in no way affect the inspiration of Scripture and do not touch upon any major teaching in the Bible. The text clearly ascribes willful evil to this king, something not to be expected if this was merely a boy of eight subject to the whims of many royal advisors. Both Chronicles and Kings note that he reigned only three months after which he was taken captive. At the time of this captivity his wives note the plural were taken as well. This is clearly indicative of an eighteen year old king and not an eight year old who would not even be considered a man under Jewish law. Consider how he became king...2 Chronicles 36 5 8 Jehoiakim was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. NASU Nebuchadnezzar was the reason Jehoiachin became king after his father was deposed in 597 B.C. It is highly improbable that Nebuchadnezzar would have placed an eight year old into this position as he would not have one individual to hold responsible, as any young king would be subject to a multitude of advisors. In fact, when Nebuchadnezzar subsequently removed Jehoiachin he made his uncle king and not one of Jehoiachin 's very young children. Also, if Jehoiachin was only eight years old, it 's unlikely that he would have been imprisoned in Babylon 2 Kings 24 15, 25 27 . Some translations now legitimately have corrected this error in the text...2 Chronicles 36 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. NIV The bottom line is that with confidence we can state that Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign.
siti's comment on 2011-06-17 01:17:07:
why 2 Chronicles 36:9 says "eight years.." but 2 Kings 24:8 says "eighteen years?" im confuses... is it people who write the Bible?